In a public address delivered on Al-Aqsa TV by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based terror boss informed Arab viewers that U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama came to power in the United States due to Islamic jihad in the Middle East.

During the June 25 discourse, Mashaal said Obama's administration, and its interest in achieving détente with the Arab world, did not come about through American altruism. Rather, witnessing the combative efforts of Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Afghanis led Americans to vote for Obama in order to "protect their own interests."